Assignment | Lesson One | Mission as Compassion Toward Liminality and Marginality

Week One Reflection on Thurman Writings: Caitlin Dally Mason

No one ever pointed out the juxtaposition of Jesus’ inherent poverty and Paul’s privilege which establish much of Christian belief and tradition. Thurman’s thinking of “only the underprivileged man may bring the message to the underprivileged” is something I have wrestled with unknowingly for some time. The message of the underprivileged raised up by Jesus has been a formative and essential part of the hope I hold in Christianity, but as a middle-class white woman I have struggled to find my place in the story because of my privilege.  I have often been drawn to the margins, and I pull from my own family history—post war Ukrainian Jewish immigrants—to try and relate.  How does one authentically find themselves in the social gospel when one may have always held privilege?  Thurman points out that it is necessary to widen one’s understanding of self and such work is done so in knowing one’s brother—this philosophy reminded me of theologian Martin Buber’s work I & Thou.  It seems we cannot know ourselves without knowing one another and thus we know God. 

I have struggled greatly with my faith which has lived mostly in white protestant communities.  I have often found myself working towards conversations of inclusion and welcome and have been met with resistance, or rather a desire to keep status quo.  I have grown tired of the argument that naming and claiming inclusive space; particularly for our Queer and Trans siblings is “too political or controversial” being met with a response to “keep things as they are—we know we are welcoming, why label ourselves as such?”   

So much of the church feels siloed. How do we create worshipping communities that are truly safe and inclusive?  The notion that QTBIPOC folks are the prophets that will be essential to church renewal really resonates with me, but what steps are necessary in a ministry context in the Midwest that feels so exclusive?  I am not ready to give up hope on the institutional church, but am longing for a prophetic wind to sweep in.   

In terms of Thurman’s use of the “genuine,” I was reminded of Brene’s Brown’s catch phrase “to be clear is to be kind.” So often I have experienced communities that will not take a stand on important social justice issues for fear of offending someone. I honestly think that this lack of clarity and purpose of Gospel in action can be a turn off for many younger people seeking sacred spaces.  Jesus’ vision of his work in Luke 4 provides a clear purpose for Gospel work. Personally, in my chaplain work, I feel called and drawn to patients that may be housing insecure and poor. Many of them are judged by hospital systems and dismissed, but their stories have value and must be heard.  

“Do they teach the truth?” This was somewhat of trick question in the congregation of my youth, for we were the only ones who “knew the truth”. Any outsider would automatically be dismissed. My journey to erase this tape has been a lifelong struggle for me.

Thurmans emphasis on the “genuine”, and the other readings/videos have been a humbling reminder of my roots this week. For years, even after leaving that church, I struggled with a “righteous-holier-than-thou” arrogance of not seeing the outsider as someone in the family of God.

However, in my mid-twenties I was challenged by someone who by appearances would not "know the truth” according to my former church leaders. He said something so profound and simple about God loving everyone, including me, that the proverbial scales fell from my eyes. It was the first time, I was humbled, open, willing enough to see what Thurman speaks so eloquently about- that everyone can have some understanding of God’s love and truth because we are all part of God’s family. I still struggle sometimes, but I am more aware.

Luke 4 sits in this same theme. Jesus was sent to bring the good news to the oppressed and the downtrodden. Since we, too, are God’s children, then we carry the good news as well. Together, with all our different viewpoints and experiences, we can paint a full picture of who God is for each other. I see this as the work of the big “C” Church. 

My current congregation has an outward focus on justice and actively seeks connection with newcomers and the marginalized. This is one of our strengths. Where we could improve is offering the same to each other.

This week, I realize that I often move through my life with blinders on to those around me. I can be very focused on the immediate which is not something I’m proud of. As a lone person of faith in most of my circles, I’m sure that I continue to dismiss others when it comes to the spiritual. I know I can do better.  

Do they know the truth?  My hope is to not even ask that question of others. Since God, as our our loving parent, is active in our lives, we all have access to the Great Divine. Such a difference than how I grew up, and I hope to incorporate this outlook with everyone that I meet.  

“Do they teach the truth?” This was somewhat of trick question in the congregation of my youth, for we were the only ones who “knew the truth”. Any outsider would automatically be dismissed. My journey to erase this tape has been a lifelong struggle for me.

Thurmans emphasis on the “genuine”, and the other readings/videos have been a humbling reminder of my roots this week. For years, even after leaving that church, I struggled with a “righteous-holier-than-thou” arrogance of not seeing the outsider as someone in the family of God.

However, in my mid-twenties I was challenged by someone who by appearances would not "know the truth” according to my former church leaders. He said something so profound and simple about God loving everyone, including me, that the proverbial scales fell from my eyes. It was the first time, I was humbled, open, willing enough to see what Thurman speaks so eloquently about- that everyone can have some understanding of God’s love and truth because we are all part of God’s family. I still struggle sometimes, but I am more aware.

Luke 4 sits in this same theme. Jesus was sent to bring the good news to the oppressed and the downtrodden. Since we, too, are God’s children, then we carry the good news as well. Together, with all our different viewpoints and experiences, we can paint a full picture of who God is for each other. I see this as the work of the big “C” Church. 

My current congregation has an outward focus on justice and actively seeks connection with newcomers and the marginalized. This is one of our strengths. Where we could improve is offering the same to each other.

This week, I realize that I often move through my life with blinders on to those around me. I can be very focused on the immediate which is not something I’m proud of. As a lone person of faith in most of my circles, I’m sure that I continue to dismiss others when it comes to the spiritual. I know I can do better.  

Do they know the truth?  My hope is to not even ask that question of others. Since God, as our our loving parent, is active in our lives, we all have access to the Great Divine. Such a difference than how I grew up, and I hope to incorporate this outlook with everyone that I meet.  

I have to confess that I did not know very much of anything about Howard Thurman before this lesson. One of the things that struck me most was the realization that, as I have been taught the Bible through a very privileged lens, I am further enlightened by those who have not. The thought that Jesus grew up “disinherited” for a reason and a purpose, he could understand it, he felt it, he knew it. It makes me wonder if the way I was taught about Jesus was simply because, as someone of privilege, the people who taught me didn’t understand that. The emphasis went to his greatness and love and all things holy and good. We never discussed how well Jesus knew the struggle. 

Luke 4:16-19 helps affirm what I believe to be the mission of the church. Freedom to those who are oppressed, healing to those who are sick, good news to the poor…this is where we are today. Jesus was called to this mission, and we are here to do the same, not just stand by and watch it happen. Putting it alongside Thurman’s sermon on the growing edge, it gives a blueprint for the path of where we need to go, and how we can’t sit still in that which is not growing. Stagnation is not our mission. Not mine at least. 

It’s funny how God works. These past couple of months, I’ve been thinking about mission and how I feel that we are missing the mark in how we begin it sometimes. We pride ourselves on vibrant youth programs and send them on mission trips, teach them to feed those without, help those less fortunate in their communities. I feel, though, that we are completely missing a step. We have to first teach them how to listen first and go in with open hearts. Rev. Dr. Yong told of his story in his first lecture of how he went into a space thinking he was going to spread the good news, and in return, the news was shared with him. If we go into mission work with our own thoughts on how it should be, we lose sight of what needs to be done because we haven’t taken the time to actually see or hear what it is. We have to be open to being changed ourselves.

** I apologize if there is a lack of clarity on my assignment this week. I’m getting over COVID, and I really did not want to turn this in late. COVID brain is real! 

Erin Aylor

DSF Church at Work 

Wk 1 Aug 8th 2026

Thurman’s Genuine

I had never heard of Dr. Thurman nor read his works before this course. Of that, I am appreciative to learn more this week. Only the underprivileged man may bring the message to the underprivileged.  From this quote, I’m not exactly sure how to navigate.  Although in the reading there was the comparison as Jesus Christ as the underprivileged, but wasn’t the original statement directed at people? Can this statement be taken at face value? I’m genuinely asking. The third demand that religion makes upon the underprivileged is that they must absorb violence directed against them by the exercise of love. No demand has been more completely misused. I had read the two works assigned earlier this week but just watched both the videos today. In between those days, I saw a FB reel about the actual meaning of going the second mile (akin to turning the other cheek).  My mind went back to this part of the lesson.  To be expected to just love and not resist or represent is not sensible; yet, this is exactly what was thrust upon so many in the US.  Taking this class just coming from completing H&P focusing on Jha’s book is actually a fantastic layer for this learning. 

Jesus’ Mission in Luke 4

Jesus was referencing Isaiah 61 here, I believe with a focus on verses 1-2 but also verse 3. I love this as these who are having their wounds bound up and being cared for medically are then known as being those having “the oil of joy instead of mourning…trees of righteousness [strong and magnificent, distinguished for integrity, justice, and right standing with God]. (AMP)  The church’s calling is to do our very best, collectively, to ensure this is achieved, honored, and maintained. There has been woeful neglect of this in many denominations, including some periods of time in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).

Prophetic Voice at Margins

I’m not exactly sure how to answer here, but I do have some thoughts from a previous class at Phillips Theological Seminary.  The course was focused on preaching. The point was to ask myself, “Who all is being represented here in my sermons? Who can relate? For example, are all my stories, quotes, etc from basically White men? Or, are there other voices that are included? Before that class, it had never even crossed my mind to be aware of that! That is embarrassing to type but a real moment of growth.  Now, I truly strive to add additional perspectives. But, the beauty of that is in working towards that, it gives me exposure and opportunity to study more from those from other ethnicities, races, and more. It’s a holy process of awareness and improvement and some grieving at the same time, because growing up Missionary Baptist, there was none of that. (I’m keeping my response on that short due to the word limit but could write 2 pages on that alone.)

I’ve encountered the work of Rev. Dr. Thurman in a few places this year and every time I’ve been drawn in by his writing style, warmth, and wisdom. I’m so glad we are spending more time with him in this course.

In Good News for the Underprivileged I zeroed in on a sentence and read it several times; it comes after the statement “Love always implies genuine courage.” A couple of lines later Thurman wrote “It means the exercise of a discriminatory understanding which is based upon the inherent worth of the other, unpredictable in terms of external achievement. It says, meet people where they are and treat them as if they were where they ought to be.”

He’s lifting up the truth that so often gets obscured in our culture of domination and competition - that inherent worth has nothing to do with how society perceives you. I truly believe this, but it’s hard to recalibrate my vision fast enough to keep me from thinking otherwise sometimes. But then he goes further - not just to see people’s true value, but to also value their place and experience without judgement or trying to impose change upon it.

This got me. And it’s helping me mentally recalibrate some experiences I’ve had in ministry. I think I often do okay at the genuine work of seeing value and worth in people regardless of circumstance. But I also often judge the circumstance and sometimes even see it as my job to help change it. This is tricky - because there are some circumstances that seem worthy of change…certainly it’s important to keep working to transform systems of extraction and subjugation to those of regeneration and liberation. 

It’s hard to find the right words for this, but I think this is calling me to see and listen more deeply to a person’s circumstance and remember to be humble, to keep from making assumptions or deciding I know what’s best. This is particularly true for me with our unsheltered neighbors. Treating them as though they are ‘where they ought to be’ might mean sitting in my discomfort and allowing it ‘to be’ sometimes without searching for a solution to what may not even be a problem. I’ll be thinking about this for a while.

I have always liked the passage in Luke 4 when Jesus reads from Isaiah in the synagogue. It absolutely affirms my sense of how the church ought to be engaging in mission. I tend to see things with a ‘wide lens’ and the language from Isaiah is about fundamental changes to society - I love that! It’s not just about helping people feel good and act right - there’s a call to really turn things around for people who have it the hardest. If it wasn’t fundamentally upsetting the status quo, the people might not have run Jesus out of town for having the audacity to embody the prophecy and calling for such changes. There still seems to be a tension within the church between the comfort of what is and the audacity to reach for something more genuine, to use Thurman’s language.

The thing that stood out to me the most in this weeks readings surround the ideal of integration and welcome of all people into our churches. If Thurman is correct, that disenfrancised and underprivileged people offer a sincerity and more perceptive understanding of the Gospel, than it is vital that churches welcome, engage, and listen thoughtfully to their perspectives. Reading Thurman, there is a clarity that reminds me that we should be relentless in our pursuit for something that is deeper, more thoughtful, and more "full" than what church is sometimes reduced to, which is surface level and can work to uphold a status quo or "the way things have always been". We must fully include these individuals, allow them to freely ascend into all levels of power in the church, and listen closely to discern the truth and authenticity that their experience and message brings. The Luke 4 scripture echos this, as we see Jesus, who was in reality a poor, Jewish, outsider, proclaiming good news. A message of hope, brought by an unlikely messenger. Jesus became the center voice of an entire world-wide religious movement, and so we should not dismiss the counter-cultural voices that can teach us something deeper and more meaningful about our faith. In many ways this affirms what I believe to be true about our mission in church, which is to have a broad cross section of perspectives and voices that can contritube to our understanding of God and our place in the world. In our congregation, I think we have made some good strides towards more deeply listening to the prophetic voices on issues of anti-racism. But I personally feel a tug towards also engaging and listening to voices from the unhoused community in Chico. For people who are living in poverty, who are unhoused, they are affected by a deeply flawed and unfair economic system. I don't think any of us would argue that what they experience is "justice". So by listening to their stories, we may be able to connect their experience more deeply with the experience of Jesus, and what is demanded of us.